Tamil Nadu utility restrained from cutting power to wind mills

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Last Updated: Sat, Dec 08, 2012 09:19 hrs

Chennai: In a major relief to members of the Tamil Nadu Spinning Mills Association (TASMA), the Madras High Court has restrained Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation Ltd (TANGEDCO) not to resort to load shedding for those having dedicated feeder lines and wind mills.

According to K. Venkatachalam, chief advisor at TASMA, the court Thursday granted an interim injunction restraining TANGEDCO from resorting to load shedding for dedicated feeder consumers having wind energy.

The court also restrained TANGEDCO from insisting such consumers to purchase power from others for availing power during load shedding, Venkatachalam told IANS Friday.

TASMA took the state power utility to court for cutting off power to its members despite having dedicated power feeder lines and having huge power credit in their power banking account.

Power banking is like cash banking, whereby wind power producers feed in the electricity generated by their wind mills to the state grid and then draw that power for captive use within a year or encash the same.

According to Venkatachalam, TASMA members have invested around Rs.1 crore in dedicated feeder lines and as such the wind mills are like any other captive power plants.

He said since the wind mills and the points of consumption are located at different places, the power generated by the machines is fed into the state grid paying wheeling charges as well to TANGEDCO.

TASMA members account for around 3,500 MW of wind power installed in the state.

Only last month in another case filed by TASMA, TANGEDCO had agreed to settle within two months its dues to the members of the latter owning wind mills in the state.